Beyond Lectures: AE FUNAI VC Says University Exists to Transform Its Host Communities

The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike (AE FUNAI), has set out his vision for the Institution's relationship with its surrounding communities, describing a University not as an isolated academic facility but as a driver of local development.

Professor Daniel Nwachukwu made the remarks on Tuesday when executives of the AE FUNAI Parents' Forum paid him a courtesy visit at his office. He pointed to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as evidence of how a University transforms its host community, noting that its presence had made Nsukka home to the highest concentration of Professors in the South East. He argued that AEFU NAI has already begun a similar transformation of Ikwo Local Government Area and urged host communities to work with his administration to deepen that impact.

Nwachukwu also signalled plans to broaden the University's network of supporters, announcing the creation of a "Friends of the University" initiative to complement existing partnerships. "We are willing to partner with everyone. We will set up what we call 'Friends of the University,' to work with us for the good of our Institution," he said. He added that the Parents' Forum would be reinvigorated under his leadership to make it more effective, result oriented, and transparent.

The forum's Chairman, Engr Chidi Onwe Ogah, congratulated the new Vice Chancellor and noted that the Parents' Forum has, since its inauguration in August 2016, become the second largest contributor to the University's infrastructure after TETFund. Interventions carried out by the forum include perimeter fencing, construction of lecture pews and staff quarters, hostel renovation and maintenance, borehole sinking, fumigation, maintenance of the hybrid solar power plant, and the purchase of mattresses.

For students at AE FUNAI, the forum's track record and the Vice Chancellor's stated commitment to community partnership suggest that infrastructure and welfare support at the institution will continue to grow beyond what government funding alone provides.